“My dream is to be independently wealthy.”

“I’m going to find the man of my dreams.”

“My dream car is a Lexus ES-300.”

“I visited Newport Beach and saw my dream house!”

How many times have you heard similar statements from friends?  And maybe you’ve even voiced a few wonderful ‘dreams’ yourself.  (I know I have!)  It’s great to have dreams!

According to millionaire author, Michael Masterson, any dream can become a goal if it meets the following criteria:

It must be Specific: Being independently wealthy is a dream. Developing a $3 million net worth in 5 years is a goal.

It must be Actionable: Winning the lottery is a dream. Building a successful business is a goal.

It must be Time-Oriented: “I’m going to be rich someday” is a dream.  “I’m going to develop a $3 million net worth in five years is a goal.

It must be Realistic: Developing a $3 million net worth in five years is reasonable (with a great action plan).  Developing a $3 million net worth in 3 months is not.  Although winning the lottery is possible, it is not at all realistic.  (Statistically, your odds of being struck by lightening are greater than your chance of winning the lottery.)

Dreaming feels good – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with dreaming.  But if you’d like to ‘live your dream’ it MUST be turned into a goal.  Without goals, dreams seldom become reality.

A Harvard Business School study followed the financial status of a group of students 10 years after their graduation and found that:

- As many as 27 percent needed financial assistance.

- 60 percent were living paycheck to paycheck.

- Only 10 percent were living comfortably.

- A mere 3 percent of them were financially independent.

The study also found these interesting goal setting correlations:

- The 27 percent that needed financial assistance never set goals for themselves.

- The 10 percent that were living comfortably only had general goals.  

- The 3 percent that were financially independent had not only written out their goals – they also outlined and followed the steps required to reach those goals.

Even with a Harvard Business School degree, 97% were not wealthy.  The critical difference was goal setting.  To learn more about this click here http://www.abundance-of-wealth.cup-of-life.com/Wealth-Creation.html .

So hold on to your dreams!  Dreams are a wonderful thing.  But if you’d like to turn any of those dreams into reality, you must first turn the dream into a goal.